Bears And Hibernation: New Insights Into Metabolism In Extreme Conditions

Due to their ability to produce a potent inhibitor of protein
degradation, hibernating bears do not lose muscle mass after long
periods of hibernation. This is the main conclusion of the study
directed by Professor Josep M. Argilés and co-written by Francisco J.
López-Soriano, Gemma Fuster, Sílvia Busquets and Vanessa Almendro of
the Cancer Research Group at the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Department of the University of Barcelona (UB).

The team researches for the first time the physiological reasons for
an effect that is well known to the scientific community – the fact
that hibernating bears do not lose muscle tissue, only fat. In the
experiment, the team studied the physiological response of muscle cells
of laboratory rats grown with hibernating bear plasma outside the
period of hibernation (from the Ursus arctos in the Aran Valley in the
Pyrenees, a protected species since 1973). In the presence of
hibernating bear plasma, the proteolytic rate in the rat muscle fell by
40%. "This suggests that the plasma of hibernating bears contains a
factor that regulates protein breakdown, blocking this process in the
organism," explains Argilés, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology at the Faculty of Biology.

Why study bears as a physiological model? Hibernation is a
characteristic feature of the life cycle of this large mammal and, in
the case of the Pyrenean bear, usually lasts from the second half of
November until March or April. During hibernation, bears may go for up
to three months without food or drink, and reduce their metabolism to
adapt to these extreme conditions. What is more, bears have a
relatively stable metabolism and conserve their body temperature in
these situations.

In general, the destruction of muscle tissue (cachexia) is a sign of
metabolic stress, and in humans is associated with pathologies such as
cancer or AIDS or with long periods of malnutrition, immobilization and
microgravity. The main channels of protein breakdown in cells are
lysosomes and proteasomes, which are responsible for approximately 80%
of the proteolytic activity. But the mechanisms of protein breakdown
are still not well understood. "Compared with our knowledge of protein
synthesis, we know very little about the processes of breakdown,
especially about regulation. This possible inhibitory effect of
hibernating bear plasma may regulate proteolysis in a natural way,
which may have a series of implications for treatment," notes Argilés.

In 1993, the Cancer Research Group at the Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology Department at the UB was the first to describe the
ubiquitin-proteasome system, the proteolytic system involved in muscle
mass loss in pathological situations. This system – an enzyme cascade –
is the main cell pathway for protein turnover and also participates in
key cellular processes such as the cell cycle, DNA repair, and so on.
Years after this first discovery, the same team of scientists at the UB
has again broken new ground in detecting a possible natural inhibitor
of the cellular mechanisms involved in protein metabolism.

The experts are continuing their research to identify the factor
that provokes the antiproteolytic effect, a discovery that would open
up possibilities for future strategies for treating cachexia. «In many
cases, the response to diseases can be found by studying nature», says
Argilés, who is also organizing of the World Cachexia Congress to be
held in 2009. Santiago Palazón, of the University of Barcelona, and
Jesús Fernández, of Barcelona Zoo, also took part in the project
published in Clinical Nutrition.